Abuja - President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed insinuations that he hated the northern part of the country.
Speaking when a delegation of the Northern Elders Council (NEC) visited him at the Presidential lodge, Jonathan wondered what informed such suggestion.
He also flayed the attitude of some people, who paraded themselves as statesmen but make provocative statements just to create enmity and division in the country.
Citing projects executed by his administration in the north and appointment of many northerners into key positions in his government, Jonathan said he would provide documents to prove his critics wrong.
"I tell the National Security Adviser and my Principal Secretary the same thing. In fact my Principal Secretary (Hassan Tukur) has been my friend since I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa
"I never knew I was going to come here as Vice-President not to talk of President. But I have known him since I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa.
"My Chief Detail, Yusuf, is from Borno and has been with me since I was a deputy governor in Yenagoa.
"I see him as a good person and I have carried him along with me. So I had to ask how can somebody wake up and say I hate the north?'' he said.
The president stated that out of the 12 new federal universities established by his administration, nine were in the north while only three were in the south.
Jonathan said his government also initiated Almajiri education in the north to bring the region at par with the south in terms of education development.
He expressed happiness that state governments in the north had keyed into the imitative, which he said had greatly expanded access to education in the region.
The president expressed concern over provocative statements by some elderly Nigerians, who parade themselves as statesmen.
"Some people call themselves statesmen but they are not statesmen; they are just ordinary politicians.
"Being a statesman is not because you have occupied a big office before but the question is what are you bringing to bear?
"Are you building this country or are you a part of people who tell lies to destroy this country and to create enmity between people who ordinarily would have been living together?
"At the appropriate time Nigerians will know all of us even though I know most of you know us but the younger ones do not know.
"Some people are hiding under some clogs, some big names and creating a lot of problems in this country,'' he said.
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